Have City Officials Bitten Off More Than They Can Chew?

One story of the many citizens here in Centerville that were going to have property seized under eminent domain... That is before the Governor changed the law in 2006. Here is a letter to the current Mayor.

Mayor Mary Capra
1810 Fox Run, Centerville MN 55038
Dear Mayor Capra:
April 28, 2008
We feel privileged to be part of a smaller town/community. Typically a small town affords City government more personal contact with it’s citizens. We feel that is true for Centerville - a town we have truly loved for many years. Thus, we felt that writing to you personally would be appropriate and welcomed.
First, we understand that Centerville City Council has been facing and will continue to face challenging decisions over this next year. We wanted to express some of our concerns regarding those decisions. In specific, how the Council’s decisions have affected us.
This is our personal story in a nutshell:
We built our home on Centerville Lake at 1580 Sorel Street (several doors down from St. Genevieve Church) in 1994 and moved in May 7th, 1995. We were excited when LyNae’s parents (Lloyd & Diane Hansen) built next door to us (1588 Sorel) one and a half years later. Our intention was to look after them as they grew older and that by living next door, we could most adequately do this.
We began our own electrical company the summer of 2002. We are a small company and desire to remain small (2 employees). From the onset, our personal 3-car garage posed ‘space problems’ for all our electrical materials, along with our boats, trailers, etc. We had been looking for property close to home for storage and as an investment. We had talked with the owner of 1688 Sorel Str (across street from front doors of St. Genevieve Church and only ½ block from our home). We bought the property 2004, which at the time was zoned R-2, with the intentions of tearing down all the existing buildings and putting up two new homes (for rental and overflow). We also had every intention of following all and any guidelines set up by Centerville regarding covenants, etc. Then the Council changed the zoning ordinance from R-2 to "Mixed Use", which then led to the Council setting up the moratorium, then another rezoning and well, you know the rest. Originally, we never wanted to sell our investment property to the City. But when the City stated ultimately they would implement Eminent Domain against us (at the Beard & neighbors meeting), we felt we had no choice. The effort, stress and risk it took for us to purchase an investment property only to have the Council tie our hands and eventually relinquish it all to the City has been egregious.
In addition, the Council was making plans to put in high density housing and shops only ½ block away from our residence for the purpose of bringing in more businesses & residents, thus creating more tax revenue for the City. By this time, our small-town-"warm-fuzzies" were fading fast.
We did not want to live next to high density housing and shops, although we have always been advocates in "cleaning up" the downtown area. We believe however, that the ends do not justify the means in this case: entice developers by taking taxes and giving it to the developers (Beard) for the next 20 years. In our opinion, this "corporate welfare", along with the taking of one’s property by government (Eminent Domain), is unconscionable.
So, feeling quite hopeless, we sold everything in 2007. More importantly, we left our hopes and dreams: moving out of our dream home and away from Mom & Dad and selling our investment property (1688 Sorel) to the City.
We have moved to a home we bought in 2003: 7216 LaValle Drive, Centerville, across the lake from our Sorel home we sold. To be sure, this much older home does not have the same appeal to us as our 1580 Sorel home that we ourselves built from the ground up. Nonetheless, we feel fortunate to continue to be on the lake and in Centerville. That is, until recently.
Now we are facing another Centerville ‘taking’ in this home! The Council is considering turning our 1 block, dead end private road (LaValle Drive) into a public street, which we understand would quite possibly mean that the City of Centerville would once again take part of our personal property. The Council has stated they will not force hook up to City water, yet if we decide to move, it would be required to hook up before we could sell, and all of this at a cost of around $14,000-$20,000.
We enjoy our well water and believe it to be superior in every way, including safety and taste. It is one of the reasons we chose our property on Sorel and why we purchased our current home. We are not interested in being forced to hook up and drink chemically treated public water when our natural pure well water suffices. We are not interested in relinquishing our private street, hooking up to City water or capping our well. Certainly, those of us currently with wells should be allowed to keep them indefinitely, especially those of us on a private road! There is no good enough reason, at least to us, that the City of Centerville should take our private road and property.
Mayor Capra, in truth, we just want to be left alone. Please reconsider this forcible hook up and taking property that ethically is not the City’s to take. This is more than a personal issue for us, it’s a moral one. We believe Centerville Council would be overstepping, once again, the bounds in which government was originally intended.
Finally, we are firm believers that, for the most part, those that serve the citizens do so with good and right intentions and bear an enormous responsibility coupled with much work. Indeed, we believe this is true for the Centerville Council. And so, that is why we often pray for all our leaders that govern us, both locally and nationally. We are grateful for your service and time.
Sincerely,
Erick & LyNae
7216 LaValle Drive, Centerville MN 55038
cc: Centerville City Council, P & Z

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Increasing Taxes During an Economic Downturn is Suicide

Anoka County among hardest hit in housing crisis
The county's foreclosure rate was among the fastest growing in the metro region, and the prevention hot line is on the front lines.
By PAUL LEVY, Star Tribune
Anoka County has the highest rate of foreclosures in the metro area, according to 2007 statistics, with calls to a county foreclosure-prevention hot line having quadrupled in recent months.
"It's explosive, unbelievable, like a train wreck with people who have overextended themselves crashing against changing interest rates," said Jan Backlin, director of home ownership programs at Anoka County Community Action Program (ACCAP), which runs the hot line.
Full Story Here

Centerville Foreclosures
2005 ~7
2006 ~16
2007 ~21
2008 ~14 (Aug. 31)

Anoka County
2005 ~520
2006 ~849
2007 ~1,680
2008 ~1,622 and counting...

*Statistics From the Anoka County Community Development Dept

Current 9/15/2008

Minnesota Foreclosure Data
HousingLink is an independent, nonpartisan, Twin Cities-based organization that specializes in the collection and distribution of affordable housing information. HousingLink's data and information is utilized by various stakeholder groups including direct service providers, housing providers and policymakers within our service area. Because of the vast impact of the recent foreclosure crisis, HousingLink has undertaken several foreclosure data collection efforts through partnerships with other local organizations. These reports are located HERE

The Twin Cities Metro has a projected foreclosure rate of 19,936 in 2008 compared to 3,759 in 2005.

State Wide the foreclosure numbers are 28,282 for 2008 compared to 6,466 in 2005.

How many citizens will be forced out of their homes here in Centerville, due to the increased tax burden? Do the people making financial decisions for our city even care? Bring power back to the people with your vote on election day!
*2008 Foreclosures (Projected) numbers are based on first quarter 2008 actual foreclosure counts

Contact us privately with City information, news and personal stories. All contact information will be kept private and not posted on the blog unless requested.
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